Wishes 10/8/11 WP/GF-- Love's First Kiss-- Trip Report Complete

[irishwishes]

Have a wonderful trip and a magical wedding!!!

 

[virtuous girl]

HAPPY WEDDING DAY!!! OH AND BY THE WAY....

 

[FlamingoAllie]

Happy Wedding Day!!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Happy wedding day, Michelle!!!!!!!

 

[mebbradley]

Happy Wedding Day, Michelle! We can't wait to hear how it went!

 

[DisneyShamrock]

Happy Wedding day!!

I hope everything is as magical as you've dreamed!

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Happy Wedding Day! I hope it's magical!

 

[qtsugarangl]

Happy Wedding Day!!! I hope it's magical and you have a wonderful time!!!

 

[belle2211]

Happy first full as a married lady! I can't wait to hear how everything went and to see pictures!

 

[One_Song]

Thank you so much everyone! We are back home and getting settled. It's bittersweet, because I hate that our wonderful, perfect trip is over, but I'm happy to be back with our girls and to feel like a real family. Thank goodness the holidays are coming, it's really helping me keep my spirits up. I am going to start a trip report soon, I just need some time to get pictures sorted and uploaded-- Brandon took about 1500 photos during the trip. I'm hoping I can get friends and family to send me their pictures as well, so I have plenty to tide me over until the professional pics come in.

For now I'll say that there are very few things I would have changed about the wedding. Many things didn't go exactly as planned (which I think is normal when we dream about these things for so long) but it was truly wonderful. I wish I could live it all over again. My own little fairytale

 

[virtuous girl]

Cant wait 2 c ur pics! And ur "glad u did or didnt do" reports...

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Hiya!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. I'm glad you had a wonderful day. I thought about you on your big day, congratulations on being a MRS! x

 

[One_Song]

After much delay, I'm ready to start my TR!

___________________________________________________________


Day 1- Travel, Polynesian Check-In, MK, California Grill

Our wedding trip started very early one morning. I had forced Brandon out of bed (it was easy for me to wake up—we were going to Disney!) We worked to cram as much as possible into our car. We had tons of things with us: 4 suitcases, bags of gifts, my dress, our “Ohana means family” sign, and lots of small wedding incidentals. My mom’s car was packed full as well. We even drove a few things over to one of my MOH’s the night before.

With the car ready, we kissed our pups goodbye. I told them we would be back in two weeks and then we would be a real family. I always hate leaving my dogs.

And we hit the road!

We live in northwest Florida, and we have to drive through some pretty *interesting* places on our way to I-75.

The drive is about 6 hours, but it passed so quickly. We began by talking about all the things we were looking forward to. The excitement got to us, and we started goofing off and acting like children. Brandon even crank called his brother and pretended to have this funny voice. I laughed so hard I cried. The whole drive was so happy. I thought to myself, this is why I’m marrying him. When we’re stuck in a car together, we end up laughing to the point of tears. We always just have fun together.

We stopped for a little lunch along the way

At this point I had been dieting strenuously for about two months. Those french fries tasted amazing. I admit I felt a little guilty about it. The week of the wedding I stressed way too much about fitting into my dress. I wish I hadn’t—it fit perfectly and I should have relaxed more.

We were getting close now…

I love seeing the actual name on the sign!

And then we were there!

It felt so amazing driving through the gate… like the start of the most wonderful two weeks of our lives. There were so many things I couldn’t wait to do, and I was ready to experience it all.

 

[One_Song]

Day 1 Continued

We arrived at the Polynesian, where we would be staying up until the wedding.

My family gave me a lot of grief about Brandon and I staying together before the wedding, but we’ve lived together for over a year and it seemed silly to separate just for tradition. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have been happy staying apart. Each night, after the stress of wedding details and a day’s worth of juggling our families, it was so nice to have a few quiet moments together.

We pulled up to the valet area. Those wonderful CMs, they didn’t even bat an eyelash when they saw how much luggage (and extra stuff) we had. I wouldn’t let the bell hop take my dress. I was too worried to let it leave my sight. Instead, I held it high over my head so it wouldn’t drag the ground. I wish I had pictures of me toting the dress around, but we were both so busy, I don’t have any pictures of getting to the resort. I headed to check in while Brandon parked the car.

I guess the CMs are used to seeing wedding dresses, because even though it was just a white garment bag, people started shouting “Congratulations!” as I walked past. I must have been beaming. It’s so exciting to feel like perfect strangers are happy for you.

The CM at the check-in desk was so kind. She got us set up right away, all the while asking lots of questions about the wedding. I did all of the check-in things with just my right hand (remember my left hand was still busy holding the dress up in the air). Brandon appeared just as I was ready to go. He of course was a gentleman and offered to carry the dress, but I refused to let him touch it! It seems silly now; I’m sure he wouldn’t have “felt” what it looked like!

We headed over to our building, Fiji, which is right by the marina and has beautiful views all around. We got to our room not a moment too soon—my left arm was really starting to burn!

We set our things down and called for the bell hop to bring our bags. I had a little difficulty finding a high enough place to hang my dress. I settled on this:

But I was worried Brandon could see the dress through the bag, because of how bright the room was. I decided I would move the dress to my mom’s room later.

While we were waiting on the bell hop, I pulled back the curtains and found this stunning view.

This is why I love Disney. We weren’t put in this room coincidentally. I can’t tell you how magical it felt to look out that window and say “In __ days, or __ hours, I’m getting married there”.

After the bags arrived, we set off for Magic Kingdom (a mandatory Disney Trip Day 1 outing!)

We stopped for some pictures by the marina

I got a phone call from someone, can't remember who though! A family member needing to know resort details.

In the Great Ceremonial House, Brandon was really taken with some of the artwork on display

And I got sidetracked in the gift shop. I’m such a sucker for Disney shops!

This next picture is me explaining to Brandon that when I was little, I used to browse the Disney catalogue and imagine when I would be a mom and wear Disney swim suits like this

Brandon bought some sunglasses because he accidentally left his at home.

We finally headed up to the monorail. I’m not sure what was going on with the monorail during our trip, but it was not efficient, and honestly caused us a lot of stress. It took much longer than usual for a train to arrive—around ten minutes—and the trains moved very slowly once you were on your way.

So we waited

and waited.

Finally, it arrived, and we were off!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Michelle sweetie - great start!!! One avid reader here!!!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Great start, Michelle! OMG I love your room at the Polynesian. I'm in love with it. DF and I recently developed a crush on the Poly after taking our engagement pictures there, and now I need to stay there.

I can't even imagine how excited you were to see the WP. I got the shivers!

I love the close up of your face. You're so pretty! (I hope that's not weird to say LOL!)

And, just a note--- I used to do similar things with the Disney catalogue. My grandparents used to get them in the mail and tell me to put "J's" next to everything I wanted. Now, every year at Christmastime, my grandfather asks me "What did you put your J's on this year?" It's sort of a family joke, and DF has started using it too.

ANYWAY, can't wait to read more!!!

 

[MrsDuck]

Michelle- so excited to read more!!

The view from your room was just gorgeous and you both look excited!!

 

[mebbradley]

Michelle,

I'm so glad you started your TR. Everything looked like an amazing day.

Side note about that swimsuit...I have it. It's not as comfy or flattering as it looks! ;/

 

[One_Song]

Michelle sweetie - great start!!! One avid reader here!!!

Thank you! I love getting to relive it!

Great start, Michelle! OMG I love your room at the Polynesian. I'm in love with it. DF and I recently developed a crush on the Poly after taking our engagement pictures there, and now I need to stay there.

I can't even imagine how excited you were to see the WP. I got the shivers!

I love the close up of your face. You're so pretty! (I hope that's not weird to say LOL!)

And, just a note--- I used to do similar things with the Disney catalogue. My grandparents used to get them in the mail and tell me to put "J's" next to everything I wanted. Now, every year at Christmastime, my grandfather asks me "What did you put your J's on this year?" It's sort of a family joke, and DF has started using it too.

ANYWAY, can't wait to read more!!!

Thank you! Poly is my old favorite, it's just so romantic and relaxed, I can never get enough of it. Thank you about the close up-- it doesn't make me feel weird, it makes me feel way better! I'm always a little nervous about extreme close ups, but Brandon loves taking them. Creep!

Michelle- so excited to read more!!

The view from your room was just gorgeous and you both look excited!!

Thank you! We were elated, especially that first day. Isn't that view killer?

Michelle,

I'm so glad you started your TR. Everything looked like an amazing day.

Side note about that swimsuit...I have it. It's not as comfy or flattering as it looks! ;/

Haha, too funny about the swimsuit! I thought it looked very classic, guess that's what they wanted me to think!

 

[One_Song]

Day 1, continued

I was very excited to see the Wedding Pavilion from inside the monorail. From our room, I couldn’t see any signs of construction, but I was anxious for a closer view.

It’s so beautiful, I just love the WP.

Other than the wall, which we knew to expect and I’m not bothered by, I didn’t see anything. Seems like they haven’t made any progress in a while (not complaining though!)

Then we arrived.

I love coming down the monorail platform at MK. I always get a huge rush of excitement. I’m a kid at heart and I never love Disney any less.

We stopped by guest relations and purchased a Tables in Wonderland card. I’m so glad we did this, it ended up saving us a LOT of money. All of the restaurants we went to on the trip accepted TiW—even Victoria & Alberts!

Next we headed to Main Street to search for gifts for Brandon’s family members. I bought my family’s gifts weeks in advance, but Dear Procrastinator waited until the last minute. I didn’t mind, since it meant we had to shop on Main Street.

We found a couple of things; a watch for his mom, a nice polo for his dad, tropical shirts for his brothers. We also found a great watch that Brandon thought he would give to a groomsman, then decided to keep for himself!

After shopping, we stopped for a quick drink

And went to Fantasyland to ride Snow White’s Scary Adventures. I can’t say it’s my favorite ride in WDW, but I certainly love it. I was heartbroken when I heard they’re taking it out. I told Brandon months ago that I wanted to start our wedding trip by riding Snow White.

After Snow White, we only had time for one more ride. We had reservations for California Grill and I didn’t want to be rushed. We chose Haunted Mansion (we love it!)

Then we dashed back to Polynesian. We were feeling a bit snacky so we grabbed a Dole Whip en route to the room

Still worried that Brandon could see my dress through the garment bag, I ran my dress down to my mom’s room. Both she and my godmom were in Fiji, one floor down from us. My best friend and two cousins also ended up in Fiji. It was so nice to have everyone close together. Whenever I needed something, someone was always close by to help.

We got dressed for dinner, and ended up being a little pressed for time. We hopped back on the monorail to head to Contemporary and I vowed to Brandon that we would never be rushed again on the trip. Seemed like a good idea, but it didn’t end up even close to true! We were almost late to everything.